Hospitals death toll rises by 44

ANOTHER 44 patients have died at Leicester’s hospitals in the past week after testing positive for Covid-19.

A patient in their 50s was among those who died at either the Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester General Hosptial or Glenfield Hospital.

The increase means the total number of people to die with coronavirus in the city’s hospital wards since the pandemic began now stands at 569.

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust said that the patients who had died were aged between their 50s and 90s.

Last week, 17 deaths were confirmed.

A spokeswoman for the trust said: “Sadly, we can confirm that 569 patients being cared for at our hospitals, and who had tested positive for Covid-19, have died.

“Forty-four of those deaths have been announced since last Wednesday.

“Our thoughts and condolences are with the family and friends of the patients at this very difficult and distressing time.”

While the announcement covers the period from Wednesday, November 18 until yesterday, reporting delays mean some of those deaths could have occurred before last Wednesday.

Acting chief executive of Leicester’s hospitals, Rebecca Brown, said the trust is “absolutely in Covid wave two”.

She described the pressures frontline staff are facing after Covid patient numbers surpassed those seen during the original peak in April last week.

An NHS England spreadsheet suggests there were 34 deaths at Leicester’s hospitals in the whole of October.

The same data shows nine deaths in September.

UK-wide, another 445 hospital deaths were added to tolls yesterday.